Sheikh Haikel bin Sheikh Salim Bajrai ( ', born 10 October 1975) is a Singaporean

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, actor, and radio personality. He won the talent competition Asia Bagus in 1991. As a multi media personality with numerous stints in radio, television, film, and stage, he has produced three studio albums and numerous single track albums to date. He now runs a music school in Kuala Lumpur where they teach varied genres of music including, hip hop, classical, and rock.

Early life and education

He attended Saint Patrick's School and has a BA in Performing Arts and Psychology from the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Career

Acting

Sheikh Haikel first appeared on the big screen in the iconic Singaporean film, ''

Army Daze ''Army Daze'' is a 1996 Singaporean comedy film based on the 1987 theatre play of the same name by Singaporean writer Michael Chiang. Distributed by Cathay Asia Films and directed by Ong Keng Sen, the film portrays a group of 18-year-old Singaporea ...

''. ''Army Daze'' made a return to the theatre in 2006 under the direction of Beatrice Chia and Goh Boon Teck, with Sheikh retaining the role of Johari Salleh. His next performance was as Jeff in the joint Singaporean-Malaysian film ''City Sharks'' in 2003 which he starred in alongside Nicholas Lee and Hans Isaac. He has starred in many sitcoms in TV such as 3 Rooms and The Donnie Lee Show. He also guest starred various times on the critically successful Singaporean sitcom, '' Under One Roof''. He has also hosted ESPN's ''Football Crazy'' and is currently the host of

Okto Okto is a Singaporean children's programming block broadcast by Mediacorp's Channel 5 in English and Channel 8 in Mandarin Chinese. The brand originally operated as a standalone free-to-air channel from 19 October 2008 to 1 May 2019, havin ...

's ''Knockout''.

Radio

In 2004, complaints were made to Singapore's

Media Development Authority The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was founded on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasti ...

that he and his then co-host

Daniel Ong Daniel Ong Ming Yu (; born 27 December 1975) is a Singaporean businessman, radio DJ and television host. He is the co-founder of Twelve Cupcakes, a Singapore-based cupcake chain. He also entered the eateries business with ''Mischief American' ...

made lewd remarks on air when a teenage male listener called in for advice on how to attract a girl he liked. As a result of these complaints, Ong was suspended from on-air duties while Sheikh was asked to leave. MediaCorp Radio's 987FM was cautioned and fined S$30,000. Sheikh Haikel was a DJ for the local broadcast channel 98.7FM,Mohandas, Vimita & Koor, Joyce (2008)
Hot Breakfast on 91.3FM
, Channel NewsAsia, 6 June 2008, retrieved 12 July 2011 and on the Breakfast Show on channel 91.3FM in 2008.

Music

Sheikh's music is rooted in rap. He became interested in it at the age of nine, when his mother bought a

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

tape for him by accident, having mistaken it for a The Pips tape. Sheikh won the '' Asia Bagus'' Grand Championship as part of the rap duo Construction Sight in 1991. Construction Sight is credited as "Singapore's first ever rap group". His first two solo albums ''For Sure'' and ''For Sure Too'' led him to win Best Local English Song at the Compass Awards in 2002 and 2004 for the hit single, ''Witulah''. His third album ''10.10.10'' was released on the same date of his 35th birthday, 10 October 2010. He performed a series of songs at the ''President's Star Charity'' 2012.

Business

In February 2017, seven years after convincing the founders of Fatboys The Burger Bar - together with his wife Anna Belle Francis, friends, inclusive Singaporean deejay duo The Muttons - launched FatPapas Burgers and Shakes; which is marketed as a

halal ''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...

subsidiary of the aforementioned Fatboys. In July 2024, Haikel together with his wife Anna Belle Francis and 5 business partners, launched a 50- seater 'Hai Ge Ji

Hainanese chicken rice Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chilli sauce and usually with cucumber garnishes. It was created by immigrants from Hainan in southern China and adapted from the Hainanese dishes of Wencha ...

' restaurant at

Bugis The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...

. He also co-owns

yakiniku , meaning "grilling, grilled meat", is a Japanese language, Japanese term that, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat cuisine. Today, "yakiniku" commonly refers to a style of cooking bite-size meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables ...

joint Wakuwaku Yakiniku.

Personal life

Sheikh Haikel is a Singaporean of mixed Malay

Yemeni Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...

descent. He has one sister. He is married to Singaporean actress Anna Belle Francis since 2002. They have three children – Triqka (born 2004), Abbra (born 2003) and their most recent, Sheikh Juz (born 2014) In November 2010, Sheikh started a feud with Korean boy band

U-KISS U-KISS (; ) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International Idol Super Star. The group is currently composed of Soohyun, Yeo Hoon-min, Hoon, Lee Ki-seop, Kiseop, Alexander Lee ( ...

as they allegedly bullied him backstage at a concert in Bedok Reservoir. After the event, Sheikh posted on Twitter, "U- Kiss my ass!!!". Although he did not elaborate on what ignited the feud, he also tweeted: "All u-kiss fans were to icbusy to notice anything else. I was to icbusy trying to get u-kiss on stage." After another few tweets targeted towards U-KISS and their fans, Sheikh apologised for his banter on Twitter.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''For Sure'' (2002) * ''For Sure Too'' (2003) * ''10.10.10'' (2010) * ''Eh Lah'' (2011; one track album promoting his upcoming album, Check, Check, 1–2, 1–2) * ''Check, Check, 1–2, 1–2'' (TBA)

Singles

* "Witulah" (With u lah) (Peaked at No. 1 on Malaysian music charts)

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haikel, Sheikh Living people Singaporean people of Yemeni descent Singaporean people of Arab descent Singaporean people of Malay descent 20th-century Singaporean male singers 1975 births Queensland University of Technology alumni Singaporean rappers Singaporean Muslims 21st-century Singaporean male singers